I have to say that I didn't encounter a single person who made me feel unwelcome. Granted I had few real conversations, but everyone I had to deal with was very pleasant. And, I'm sure I had "Yankee tourist" written all over me (although I was wearing my Mets cap).
Things that struck me about the city:
- Pan-handlers (mentioned this already)
- The city was probably a little less interesting than I had anticipated. Maybe I expected too much and/or I didn't see enough.
- Having said the city was less interesting than I had hoped, the lack of English was very interesting and still has me wondering about it. Many people I dealt with spoke broken English (although their English was far better than my non-existent French). I had expected more English. All the road signs are in French only - even those just over the border (took me a while to figure out simple things like "east", "west", "bridge", etc.). On the NY side of the border you see occasional signs in French starting in Albany and they become more frequent as you get nearer to the border. I've come away from Montreal with the feeling that Quebec is like the Gaeltacht, only more successful at preserving the language.
- Olympic Stadium is horrendous. It's no wonder nobody goes to see the Expos. The tone is more family-friendly than either of NY's stadiums (stadia?), but the ball-park itself is like a parking garage with seats and fake grass.
